Welcome Back to Fiji

Jon Roseman prepares for the Tour's return to Tavarua

Silhouetted against the canvas of Cloudbreak, this is what Jon Roseman calls working from home. Photo: Glaser

Most of the time, Jon Roseman, the goofyfooted cofounder of the Tavarua Island Resort, gets barreled just as much as his guests. But with the World Tour returning to the heart-shaped island of Tavarua after a three-year hiatus, he’s currently busy accommodating the traveling circus that has arrived in force. Even with the human influx, pumping surf out front, and multiple South Pacific swells en route to his neighborhood reefs, he took the time to answer some questions for us about the upcoming Volcom Fiji Pro.

Is Tavarua glad to have the Tour back?

The island, and Fiji as a whole, is super stoked to have the event back. It does so much to promote tourism and expose Fiji as the wonderful country that it is.

How are the people, the island, and the resort preparing for the contest?

Everyone is powering out, from the scaffolding to the webcast to the amount of people coming from all over. It’s exciting, but all the logistics need to be covered well in advance.

What do you have to do to accommodate the Tour?

Obviously the logistics of being a small island on the edge of the reef can be challenging on a normal day, so when you have this many people and media coming all at once, there’s a lot of planning and coordination that need to take place. We’ve been bringing out endless supplies from the main island to ensure we have it all covered once the event starts.

How does the forecast look for the event?

The swell looks absolutely insane for the start of it—in fact, it looks insane for the next two weeks.

How does a contest in Tavarua fit into the “Dream Tour” philosophy?

The waves at Cloudbreak and Restaurants are probably some of the best in the world for competing. Cloudbreak itself is so multi-dimensional. It can barrel heavily for hundreds of yards and at the same time be super high-performance for maneuvers. It’s good from 2- to 20-foot and has a bunch of different dynamics bundled into one, so it really caters to the strengths of all the competitors. Tavarua is such a beautiful and idyllic setting too—warm weather, blue water, coconut trees, white sand. It’s a true South Pacific paradise, with world-class waves surrounding it. I think all the surfers on Tour are really stoked to come and really look forward to having the event here.

You know the waves better than anyone, so who’s your pick to win it?

That’s really hard because a lot of those guys are my friends. Of course Kelly has it pretty wired out there, as it’s one of his favorite places. He always seems to find the gems.

When Slater comes to the island for the contest does he get to stay in the best room or the best flat on the island? Who or how do they choose where the pros are going to stay? Do they draw straws or does any of the competitors get seniority?

Rob

cbizlle, u are lost in the world

Chaz

cbizlle. you are a sad individual! i hope you can find comfort in something. your comment is truly one of the most unbelievable things i have read in my entire life.

Bushy

I think they do it by age, so Kelly does get the best flat on the island, but he has to share with Taylor Knox. It also has the best stocked mini bar, a trouser press and the concierge gets them tickets for all the best shows. Now that Taylor Knox is out of the comp, the next oldest surfer will move up to take his place. Kolohe, jon jon and Medina are sleeping on the lawn in a tent at the moment, but jon jon could definitely be sleeping in a proper bed soon if he gets through some more heats. I think they use a similar system for seats on the boats out to the reef as well. They used to use rock paper scissors, but the ASP changed that last year.